


Faunus Weiss

by Fluffandsmutt



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Trauma, F/F, F/M, Faunus Weiss Schnee, M/M, Multi, Nothing Bad Happened AU, Other, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Trans Female Character, Trans Jaune Arc, Trans Male Character, Trans Ruby Rose (RWBY), alive Penny, alive Pyrrha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffandsmutt/pseuds/Fluffandsmutt
Summary: Heavily inspired by Snow Leopard by Hero Shepherd! Love their story but it’s still a work in progress so to sate my kitty-Weiss urges I started writing my own story.Set in a “nothing bad happened AU”. Beacon did not fall, Pyrrha and Penny are alive. Weiss Schnee was born a faunus due to recessive genes, but her father mutilated her body at a young age to hide the truth. Now at Beacon, thanks to Jaune's healing aura, her faunus traits are back. What will she do now her life is set for a drastic change?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee, Ilia Amitola/Blake Belladonna, Ilia Amitola/Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Winter Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 8
Kudos: 133





	1. Secrets Shared

Weiss had spent her entire life living a lie. Her father had told her it was all for the best. Told her that the Schnee family name meant more than anything. More than the feelings of a sad little girl. More than the pain and loneliness.

But as she had grown, and learned how the world truly worked… she knew that Jacque Schnee had been wrong… She had denied who she was. She had been raised to hate and mistrust things she didn’t understand…

The heiress sat on the edge of the Beacon dorm roof, trying to cry as quietly as possible. She knew conversations were often over heard here, even though it seemed private. No one must know that the school ice queen was so vulnerable.

“Are you up here Py….” A voice cut across the silence making Weiss flinch and groan. Jaune… of all the people to find her crying… “Oh Weiss. I’m sorry, I was looking for Pyrrha… We… We train up here a lot.” The blond swordsman paused for a moment, only then realizing what he had walked in “Weiss are you ok?”

“I’m perfectly fine thank you!’ she snapped back almost too quickly, trying to recover from her state of weakness before he got a chance to see anything. If only she could do something about the red eyes. Maybe she could get past him without allowing him a good look at her face “If you are looking for Pyrrha I… I think she was in the library.” She was rigid in her stance and refused to look in his direction.

Jaune was quiet for a moment, but he didn’t leave. She heard his footsteps moving closer “I know she’s not Weiss. I was just there.” He spoke kindly and softly “And I also know you aren’t Ok.”

The heiress let out an exasperated cry “Maybe I’m not Arc, but are you really so dense you can’t tell when a girl wants to be left alone!” her voice cracked with the outburst. Jaune had been so used to her cold nature that this much emotion was a little frightening.

He paused but didn’t move away. “Yeah I can tell you want to be alone. And I can tell you that keeping whatever you are dealing with inside does more harm than good… I know we aren’t that close. I don’t even know if you consider me a friend. But… Just think about it, ok Weiss? I know you don’t care an ursa’s ass what I think… So maybe it’d be easier talking to me than to someone you were close to. No fear of judgement…. Am I making any sense at all?”

Weiss let out a groan as the blonde kept rambling. She could vaguely see the point he was going for. Treat him like screaming into a pillow. “it’s… I… I’ve just been thinking about something I haven’t thought of in years… Something I’d forgotten until Blake jogged my memory… And remembering it… I feel like I’ve been living a lie for my entire life. A lie I never chose to tell but had to take part in. Does that make any sense?”

Jaune didn’t respond for a long beat. She didn’t look but she felt the vibration of him plopping down to the ground to join her sitting “it makes more sense than you know Weiss. I… I’m wondering if we might… might have the same problem.”

She sat up straighter and only then turned to face him “Jaune, what are you talking about?” there was no way they were thinking of the same thing.

Jaune looked down at his hands “Pyrrha was the only one who knew about this, but… Have you ever wondered why I’m always in full body clothing? My armor, my hoodies, my pajamas…”

“i… honestly just thought you were a dork. You mean there’s a reason you choose to sleep in a onsie?”

He chuckled a bit weakly “well, being a dork is probably a contributing factor… Don’t freak out ok?” he took a deep breath and started removing his armor

“Jaune what the hell do you think you are do… do….” Weiss’ outrage quickly died in her throat as she saw what the armor hid. A simple black binder “you…oh…”

“Yeah… oh…” Jaune sighed and pulled the armor back on “I spent my entire childhood living a lie. Denying who I was, afraid of how my family would react if they knew the truth… So with a little help… I came here… And I decided while I’m here, I would always be my true self, until I have the confidence to be… well, Jaune everywhere…”

Weiss looked at the blond pain in the neck before moving close and hugging him gently “Jaune… I’m sorry for every time I made fun of your masculinity. And… I want to thank you for trusting me enough to share something this personal. I admit… My problem isn’t the same as yours but… it does hit some similar points…”

Jaune smiled at the hug, his body glowing with aura he couldn’t control at the contact from the girl he had been crushing on since his first day here. True those feelings weren’t as strong anymore… but sometimes a teenage body couldn’t be stopped from over reacting. He cleared his throat, trying to stop his power’s strange activation “it’s ok Weiss. You didn’t know… At least you always thought of me as male, even if a weak and annoying one.”

She chuckled, gently pushing him “you are still annoying Arc… But thank you… I might not have gotten much off my chest, but… I do feel better… And now you have someone else you can talk to… I think I’ll head back inside. Good night Jaune. And thank you again.” She smiled softly and walked back inside.

Maybe Jaune was imagining it but he thought he saw a faint residual aura glow coming from the white haired girl. “Any time Weiss…” Jaune stayed out on the roof a little while longer, wondering what had just happened.

That night Weiss had strange dreams and restless sleep. Everything seemed louder, a little brighter, and she was woken during the night several times by noises or a dull pain in her back… She’d have to ask about a new mattress… or at least get some ear plugs.

Because of this she was the first to wake up the next morning. She groaned and stretched in pain, her back cracking a little. Grumbling softly, she made her way out of bed and to the bathroom through the dark. Even after closing the door and turning the lights on, she only opened her eyes once she washed her face. She froze as she met her reflection, a small set of white feline ears peeked up through her hair, and a long fluffy spotted tail was curling and swaying behind her… Without knowing what else to do, the heiress fainted and fell to the floor.


	2. Well... Now what?

It was a few hours later and Weiss woke up, back in her bed. For half a moment she thought this meant she had dreamed her last memory before losing consciousness, but the fact that she had a wet cloth on her head and was surrounded by her teammates, looking at her with concerned and confused expressions was all she needed to know it had been real.

“I still have ears don’t I…” she stated, already feeling the unfamiliar appendages on her head

“And a tail…” Ruby said with a weak laugh

“And a lot of explaining to do… How did this happen?” Blake commented with an unreadable expression. Was it just confusion? Anger? The faunus was always hard to read.

The white haired girl was silent for a moment, her team looking on. They all were waiting for her, even Yang didn’t dare break the silence with the cat puns Weiss knew she was probably brain storming at this very moment. “I… I don’t know how this happened… but… this… this is the real me girls…”

RBY all looked at each other. Yang was the first to speak, “I’m just gonna throw this out there… You weren’t a faunus yesterday. Or the day before that. Or any of the days we’ve known? you. How is this the real you? Especially… with your father…”

Weiss took hold of her tail, petting it and rubbing it like it was a nervous habit she had always had “My father is the key to all this… My racist monster of a father… The man who vilified the faunus as sub human even before the white fang started attacking the company… He’d be ashamed if his secret got out… His mother was actually a faunus herself.”

“Run that by me again?” a shocked Blake asked, sitting on the edge of Weiss’ bed

“My grandmother was a faunus. She died giving birth to my father so he was able to spend his entire life denying he was only half human. He lied to everyone to make himself look more respectable. My mother and grandfather Schnee wouldn’t have cared if they knew… Winter was born completely human… but I… I betrayed his secret. I think that was when my parents started having their… issues… He did everything he could to deny that I was his child then, insisting that my mother had had an affair… Winter told me he only relented with a DNA test that I was in fact his…”

“you mean your dad made you hide this your entire life?” Ruby said softly.

“No… No it was even worse than that…” she began to cry again… twice in less than a day. What was wrong with her? “As long as my grandfather was alive I was safe… maybe a little sheltered, kept out of pictures, but safe… but then he died… And my father knew I’d be more use to the family if I could be… on public display… I don’t remember how old I was when it happened… Only that he took me to a doctor’s office without saying why… and… and when I woke up…”

Blake’s hands clenched into fists as she realized that Jacque Schnee was even more of a monster than she had ever thought. “Weiss…” not sure what else to do, the black haired girl reached out and wrapped her arms around her new faunus sister, holding her head against her shoulder.

“He… had your tail and ears removed?” Ruby said softly, even her voice sounded disgusted and horrified “Your own father had you drugged and… and…”

“Hold up…” Yang cut her sister off, putting a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, knowing how terrifying something like this would be to the little red head “as horrible as all of this is… I keep coming back to the… well, elephant in the room… If that pile of $h!t had them removed… how did you get them back?”

Weiss looked up from where she was warm and safe in the feline’s embrace. A blush to her cheeks and troubles forgotten for a moment. “I… I don’t know… I was talking to Jaune last night before bed and…” she froze, remembering that awkward moment of his semblance glowing during that hug “Oh god Jaune! I was thinking about… about how thanks to my dad I couldn’t be my true self… his semblance activated when we were talking… I thought he was just being an overly excited dork but… but I think he felt my pain… and healed me…’

Her teammates looked at each other, Blake staying close to the white feline. “Rubes” Yang said and her little sis snapped to attention “Get Arc over here ASAFP!”

“Sis yes sis!” she said, saluting and zipping off in a swirl of rose petals, despite team JNPR only being across the hall. In a matter of seconds Ruby was back with a confused and still onsie clad Jaune

“Ruby! What the heck is going on! I…I… Weiss?” he asked, freezing as he saw her new appendages

“Surprise…” she said with a sign as the blond looked her over “I’m pretty sure your semblance did this.” She wasn’t blaming him for anything, her tone only said it as an explanation.

Jaune took a moment to connect the points “Oh… so this is what you were talking about last night… That explains a lot but raises… a lot of other questions.”

Weiss, without thinking, took Blake’s hand for support as she told her story a second time, it coming much easier to her now that she’d already shared such a deep dark secret. Jaune too showed the same level of outrage and disgust with her father and she was heartened by the support… However, it was time to face her next big hurtle.

“What am I going to do now… Do I… go back to hiding? Do I confront my dad?... Where do I go from here?”

Blake put a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder “Forward Weiss. You go forward.”


	3. Advice from Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss calls Winter for a chat before facing the rest of the school

It took a little prodding to get Weiss up and out of bed and dressed. She only did on the condition that they’d leave the room so she could make a phone call to Winter. She wanted advice… Maybe she could call Kline too. He had always cared for her, and knew the secret. Once her friends were dressed they stepped out, Blake being last to leave.

Weiss prepared herself, taking a deep breath and opening her scroll. She selected her sister’s number, hoping that she wouldn’t be too busy to talk. It took a moment to connect but Winter picked up rather quickly, the video feed coming up immediately, “Weiss? Is everything alright? I don’t normally hear from you this ear-…. Ears?” her voice cracked as she caught sight of the new fuzzy outcroppings in her sister’s hair. She looked over her shoulder and Weiss caught a brief glimpse of General Ironwood. Winter made a silent gesture that she had to take this and moved to a more private space.

“How in the name of the maidens did this happen!” she said, more worry and emotion in her voice than Weiss was accustomed to hearing.

“I… I think a friend’s semblance might have regrown them… It was a lot to wake up to, let me tell you…”

“Oh gods yes… It’s a shock to me, I can only imagine what you are feeling… Is the tail back too?”

Weiss nodded and held up the fluffy spotted limb for her sister to see “It’s all back sis… I don’t know what to do… On one hand I feel… I feel like I’m my true self for the first time in years! I feel confident, happy in who I am… But then I think about what father has been saying for years. My own kind hates the Schnee family and company, and with good reason. They won’t accept me, and father… Gods I can only imagine what he’ll do when he finds out…”

“Weiss, you are not our father. Your friends and comrades already know that. They know you don’t stand for what he does.” She smiled, watching the feline ears twitch and perk as her emotions shifted, “…I remember how happy and playful a child you were Weiss… When father took you away to that horrible place… He told us that you had a sudden illness. That the surgery was to prevent the sickness from spreading… I think even then Kline and I knew he was lying but we could do nothing…” she took a deep breath “But we are both out of his power now. Weiss, you are an adult and a powerful huntress. You can be whatever you want and to hell with what he thinks or does… I wish I could be there to give you a hug…”

“Winter… are you feeling ok?” Was this really the ice queen she grew up with? Though as they talked, Weiss remembered a warmer side to her sister. Not being allowed out of the house, Winter had been her only play mate when she was little. After the surgery, they had been forced to grow up rather fast as Weiss was quickly forced into the public eye. But now… it was like those years were falling away again…

“Thank you Winter…”

The elder Schnee smiled “Be strong little sister.” She was quiet for a moment and then added with a little teasing edge to her voice “Tell me… what did your friend Blake think of the real you?”

The ears perked up at the strange question and some blush came to her cheeks “Why… She was very supportive, thank you very much.”

Winter’s smirk widened a little at her sister’s reaction “I bet she was,” she took a deep breath and regained some more of her composure, “Weiss, I know the next few days will be difficult. If you wanted to go to classes in a hat and a longer skirt until you get yourself sorted out, I doubt anyone would blame you… But I don’t think you will hide this anymore. And I think you knew just what you needed to do before you called me.”

Weiss smiled sadly and nodded, “You’re right Winter. I can’t just go back to hiding now I’ve got this opportunity…” she stood a little straighter, ears perked, “I’m going to go out there and face the world! And once all of Beacon knows, I’m turning my attention to father!” She winced a little from the volume of her own voice, “Well, maybe showing the world what a monster he is can wait until I get used to the sensory overload… I have to have a long talk with Blake and Velvet if I ever want to sleep again.”

“Velvet is another Faunus?” Winter asked, wishing she knew others she could put in contact with her sister for advice. Maybe she could talk to that young Marrow in special operations.

“Yeah. A bunny who has had to put up with a lot…” she paused in thought, realizing something, “Cardin Winchester… 90% of Velvet’s grief was thanks to that Neanderthal. I bet a steak dinner that he’ll give me a migraine before the day is over.” Her stomach growled at the thought of a large slab of red meat, “Huh… I think I might be more of a carnivore now…”

Winter smiled a little, “Well start the day with some steak and eggs and go tell Mr. Winchester to jump off the clock tower. You are still you Weiss. With or without our family name, you are a power in your own right sister. No one will push you around unless you let them.”

Weiss laughed at the image of using her glyphs to send the bully flying. Winter had helped more than she could ever say. In this one short conversation, Winter had not only shown that she still loved her sister with her new self, but moreover, they might grow closer than ever! “Thank you so much Winter. I feel much better about… all of this. I shouldn’t keep my friends waiting. I’ll call you again before I take any public action towards father.”

“Please do. I wouldn’t miss that for the world. Have a great day Weiss. I love you sis.” The trained soldier blushed a little sheepishly at the emotional vulnerability she had just allowed, but it had felt right, and it was something her family didn’t say often enough.

Weiss smiled wider, “I love you too Winter. Goodbye!” She finally ended the call and put her scroll away. She took a deep breath and examined herself in the mirror one last time. “Forward… move forward.” She repeated Blake’s words of advice and opened the dorm room door, ready to confront what could be a very different world.


End file.
